Well USAs and Original series are kind of on the same league as custom shop ( they come from custom shops?) so their prices aren't surprising. I don't know anyone with an old original or usa but I heard they are much better than the standards. Gotta try one of these.

What I WILL say for the quality on these would be really positive. I ordered the LTD Elite MII because they are blowing them out most places for around a grand because of the old logo and it is a fantastic piece of hardware. I drilled into that alder neck thru body to put in one of those Schaller spring tensioner "thingys" and it was like trying to drill stone! The weight is lighter than my KH-2 and the wood is twice as hard it seemed. Sustain for weeks! I chucked the EMG 81's for a Het Set and the Floyd for an original and the damn thing plays better than my KH-2, Snakebytes (ESP), and really close to my Silver Sparkle Eclipse. I wouldn't hesitate to capitalize on their logo change and save the money on the ugly LTD Elite logo. Tis a REALLY good guitar.

Also.....for what ever reason, Guitar Center is "clearancing" the EMG Het Sets for $139 last friday at least. Don't know what's going on there but they're cheap now.

Interesting on the LTD Elite. I think that's a model type we mostly know nothing about, due to the price and availability in stores. I've had some LTDs before this change that played just as good as an ESP Standard, but I've had one or two ESP Standards that blew the LTDs out of the water. Hopefully they're more consistant now? We'll know when the next batch comes out. Though I bet it will still be several years before I see or play them.

Jeff K. Is there any difference between the LTD Elite Horizon-III and the E-II Horizon-III besides the logo? My dealer ( guitars dealer ) says the new E-II Horizon-III is better built and have better quality wood than the Elite. I feel like he's giving me an excuse to charge more fore the E-II. The price for the E-II is the same for what the Elite one costed in the US but not here. I have played the Elite from a friend and it is cool. The guys from the store won't bring E-II or Standard and upper quality ESP's to my town unless I order one so I can't compare to the Elite. In case you are wondering, the price he is giving me now is the same price he gave when the Elites came out. Looks like they want about 250 more for what it seems the same guitar.

So, any difference between these two in terms of quality? I had to ask.